Prior art surgical lighting techniques, including applications of light sources in ophthalmology surgery, have utilized tungsten halogen, metal halide, xenon arc, etc. Such surgical lighting techniques can present a number of limitations. For example, halogen bulbs suffer from relatively low efficiency, poor reliability, considerable generation of heat, and a relatively short lifetime.
Moreover, because of packaging limitations, the light for such prior art lighting has typically required use of fiber optics for delivery from the peripheral illumination source to the inside of the eye, considerable resultant light loss. Such packaging limitations have also contributed to bulky, expensive, and inconvenient lighting, that has often exhibited poor robustness, e.g., has been susceptible to system vibrations, dirt, and moisture.
What is desirable, therefore, are surgical lighting techniques that address the noted limitations of prior art surgical lighting techniques. What is further desirable are surgical lighting techniques that can be utilized for surgeries on the eye and related physical structures.